


we'll go down this road

by caroandmally



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sense8 (TV) Fusion, Hair-pulling, M/M, There's a bit of Elounor and Haylor as well but it's only mentioned, a lil bit of smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 11:03:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4433075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caroandmally/pseuds/caroandmally
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“I thought you saved the late night conversations for me, Z,” he teases and watches as Zayn’s cheeks flush a bit, the other man ducking his head to hide the smile that curls up at the corners of his lips. He shouldn’t find this endearing, Liam reckons. They are both twenty-three years old men, and cute is not an adjective Liam should be throwing out there in order to define Zayn, but in this moment he reckons no other word fits him better.</em>
</p><p>Or a Sense8 AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we'll go down this road

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAH, I don't know how this happened, but it did. I watched Sense8 and then [this](http://perieedwards.tumblr.com/post/121798208941/one-direction-little-mix-sense8-au-youre-no) happened, then [this](http://perieedwards.tumblr.com/post/121800441716/you-have-to-say-what-the-lm-1d-sense-8-au-back) happened, and here we are? There's not a lot of plot, tbh. Nothing too action-y or anything, but I had to write this. I wrote it in a way that you don't really have to watch the TV show to read this, but just know that Zayn and Liam ( + Little Mix and Louis and Harry) are connected mentally and they can "visit" each other. Also there's this guy called "Whispers" who wants to kill all sensates. Those posts I linked are good references before you read this. I didn't tag the others because they don't really appear on this one.
> 
> I have to thank [Héla](http://bumbleem.tumblr.com/) for betaing this and being overall amazing even though she's never even watched Sense8! Thank you so much, m'love. 
> 
> I don't own Sense8, One Direction, Little Mix or Zayn Malik and I'm not making any profits out of this. (God knows I wish I was).
> 
> Title is from "Thinking About You" by Frank Ocean, because I'm that fond of clichés.

With each second that passes, his foot sinks lower on the accelerator. 

Instead of watching the road, making sure there’s nothing in the way and no possible crashes in his future, his eyes remain glued to the pointers, watching as the speed goes higher and higher. It’s not him _, him_ , he knows it because there’s no way in hell Liam would ever be able to drive this fast without being scared to death. He wants to shout at Leigh-Anne for not being careful, wants to remind her that it’s not _her_ there, but Harry who’s running away from one of Whispers’ guys and a potential lobotomy. There’s no point in it because the moment Liam _thinks_ of it, Leigh-Anne _knows_ and the car already starts going a little slower, only enough so Harry can get away with it.

 _Someone_ wants to scream. He doesn’t know who – he’s not Zayn, he can’t do this pinpoint thing as well as the other boy can – but he knows someone is not managing to keep away from this scene and is letting the despair take over their bodies. Liam can’t let them; he has to shush his mind – and therefore _them_ , most likely Jade – and remind them that they are all in this together. That, in the end of the day, if they crash, Harry’s the one who’s going to be taking the full blow. Liam knows that it’s only partially true – Paddy’s voice resonates in his head, a reminder that when a member of the cluster dies, they _all_ feel.

Liam’s- _Harry’s_ \- eyes move away from the needles and find the rear-view mirror, only long enough to guarantee that they’ve managed to get away from that car, before settling on the road in front of them. He opens his mouth and lets out a scream, one that is out of excitement rather than fright, and Liam _knows_ it’s Louis. He can feel the judgment from two different people - Zayn and Jesy - but the first is amused and Liam knows it, whereas the latter genuinely feels like choking Louis at all cost. Perrie is laughing, wherever she is which isn’t _here_ because she’s good at this keeping away from stuff thing, and Liam can’t help the smile that stretches over his face.

It’s when Leigh – or Harry or Liam or _any_ of them, really – takes a sharp turn that the car hits another.

Liam startles awake.

There’s sweat tickling down the back of his neck, his heart going at a much faster pace than it should be and his hands are shaking. He sits up, forcing his eyes shut for a second, reminding himself that Harry is _fine_ , that Taylor got to him before he could be sent to the hospital and that he’s not even in Los Angeles anymore, sitting comfortably in his girlfriend’s parents’ dining room in Nashville. He made it out – _they_ made it out and these nightmares have to stop before Liam starts affecting everybody else.

“Take a deep breath.” Even though Liam knew he wasn’t alone, he still has a minor scare when he hears someone else’s voice in his bedroom, and his eyes slip open. Zayn’s sitting at the bottom of his bed, knees drawn close to his chest and glasses hanging low on the bridge of his nose. His hair is a mess on top of his head, down instead of up in his usual bun and tiredness is written all over his face. He wasn’t asleep, though, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to come to Liam as soon as he woke up.

Liam tilts his head to the side but does as he’s told, refilling his lungs with oxygen and breathing out slowly. He keeps that slow inhale and exhale for a while, until his sense of reality is back and he doesn’t feel quite as scared. He’s always had a hard time dealing with stress and anxiety, always got too stuck in his head to be able to get out of it for long enough to force his body to settle down. And now? Now he has seven other people to share his concerns with, but also seven different sets of concerns to be shared with him. The only time he gets to have moments of peace is when he’s asleep, because whenever he’s not the time zones make sure that at least one of the others from his cluster is also awake. 

Even if Liam’s feeling like himself again, he’s glad it’s Zayn here and not the others.

“Thank you,” his voice is rough with sleep, but Zayn smiles and nods, _understanding_ , so Liam doesn’t bother explaining himself. He knows that part of the reason why he feels this comfortable is because of Zayn. The bond between all the sensates is strong, but every single one of them have their opposite, the one person who can manage to ground them regardless of the situation. Ironic as it is, Liam knows Louis seeks for Jesy whenever he needs the sort of reassurance Zayn gives Liam, as much as Jade knows to reach for Harry and Leigh for Perrie. 

“What time is it?” Liam asks and Zayn shrugs, brushes a stray strand of hair away from his face, and looks around, away from Liam, his eyes skimming around Liam’s room as if Zayn’s never been there before.

“Here or there?” It’s when Zayn asks that everything shifts. It’s mostly Liam’s fault and he’s aware of that, because he quite can’t control this pull that makes them go from one side to the other instead of remaining in only one of them. It causes this constant back and forth, which is something Zayn, Perrie and Harry already find themselves controlling with a lot more easiness than the other five. 

Zayn’s room is every bit different from Liam’s yet it gives him comfort all the same. His walls are all cream whereas Liam’s are blue – Zayn’s bed is a single pushed against one of the walls so he can fit in all his painting materials, whereas Liam takes pride on the king sized mattress that covers most of his bedroom. He’s neater than Liam, which is already quite an accomplishment, everything he owns categorized and organized in specific places and Liam’s been around enough to know that Zayn’s fairly able to maintain this without making a mess. He wishes Zayn’s capacity of being focused on whatever task at hand would pass to him.

In Karachi, Liam is sitting down on the floorboards, thankful for the fact that he went to sleep in his boxers. Back at home, it’s cold and he can still feel it a bit, but he lets the heat followed by the sunlight that floods through the room be the pull that keeps him where he is. Zayn is sitting on his bed, back resting against the wall and his legs crossed. He’s staring down at Liam, and it’s then that he realizes he left the question hanging.

“For you,” because if Zayn knows it, it’s simple math and Liam will know without having to go back and check the clock next to his bed. In all honesty, he’s just using this as an excuse to not let his eyes drift away from Zayn.

“Six something in the morning,” he’s picking at a loose thread on his comforter, a habit of his that Liam first noticed when they had their first cluster meeting. It’s not a nervous thing, because Liam knows how Zayn feels at that moment and there’s only tiredness coming from him. It’s a necessity to keep his hands busy, which explains why Zayn always has countless rings on his fingers that he keeps fiddling with. “I was a bit late for fajr this morning. I slept in because Pez kept me up last night talking about these kids she’s been teaching lately, so my sister had to almost break the door to get me to wake up.”

Liam chuckles. There’s a bit of a competition between Zayn and Perrie to see which of them is the heaviest sleeper. So far Liam considers it a tie, especially because none of them have ever been in the exact same place at the same time, and whenever one of them is asleep the others can’t pop in, but he’s betting on Perrie. 

“I thought you saved the late night conversations for me, Z,” he teases and watches as Zayn’s cheeks flush a bit, the other man ducking his head to hide the smile that curls up at the corners of his lips. He shouldn’t find this endearing, Liam reckons. They are both twenty-three years old _men_ , and cute is not an adjective Liam should be throwing out there in order to define Zayn, but in this moment he reckons no other word fits him better. It makes Liam want to touch him, to rest his palm against Zayn’s cheeks and feel his skin burning underneath his hands when Liam throws a compliment his way. He wants to touch him, _actually_ touch him, not through some mental connection that the two of them have. Liam wants to take Zayn’s hands on his and kiss each of his knuckles, wants to push him into his bed and explore his body with his –

 _No_. Liam forces himself to stop thinking, reminds himself that Zayn could reach those thoughts in the matter of seconds and the only reason the other man doesn’t is because he’s respectful of Liam’s boundaries. 

“She was antsy,” Zayn shrugs, scratching his beard – Liam tries pushing the thoughts of feeling that stubble against the inside of his thighs but it’s too hard. He doesn’t even notice the way Zayn’s own pupils are starting to blow up. “Needed someone to talk to and Harry was busy doing whatever work he had to. So she came to me and I can’t say no to her.”

“It’s impossible to say no to Perrie,” Liam chuckles out and Zayn grins, nodding. 

“It really is.”

They fall silent after that. Liam watches as Zayn’s gaze darts towards the window, hazel eyes searching for whatever he’s looking for outside, but his own eyes stay locked on Zayn’s face. He looks exhausted, Liam notes. If he didn’t know better, wasn’t aware that they can’t have connection as they sleep he’d say Zayn’s had the same nightmare as Liam’s. But then again, maybe he did, because it wasn’t anything Liam’s mind came up on its own – it was a memory, something the two of them, as well as the other six, went through only a few weeks before. He wonders if the same thoughts that haunt him are getting Zayn to stay up far too late during the nights. Liam’s already been called out by his boss more than a handful of times, telling him to get his shit back together, to not lose his focus when he’s working. He’s a photographer, for fuck sakes, and a good one at that. He has people constantly relying on him doing a good job, he has a name and a reputation to maintain. And yet he’s been giving more of himself into making sure his cluster is safe than into getting good pictures for the magazines. 

Liam shakes those thoughts away, goes back to studying Zayn’s profile. If the other man is bothered by the scrutiny, he doesn’t voice his concerns, so Liam allows himself these couple of minutes in which he can look at Zayn without having to worry. It’s only when Zayn lets out a cough and Liam’s breath hitches that he realises that, at some point, their breathing went into sync. It’s not anything extraordinary, not with how easy it is between the eight of them to settle into the same rhythm, but it still softens something inside of Liam. He has another urge to kiss Zayn, run his hands through his hair as he deepens it, straddle Zayn and feel the other’s hands exploring his own body as-

“You’re feeling it, too?” Zayn asks and Liam notices his gaze had darted away from the window, Zayn’s eyes locked in with Liam’s. It’s only then that he takes note of how dark they are, a shiver crawling up the back of his neck and a weird sensation spreading through his body.

“What?” It’s the only thing Liam can bring himself to ask, can’t take his eyes off of Zayn, or control the way his body is reacting to nothing at all. His stomach curls in a pleasant way and Liam can feel himself getting hard, but there’s absolutely _nothing_ to get him to be like this.

“Randy,” the word is breathed out in a half-whimper, and Zayn sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. Liam’s fingers itch to touch himself, but _more_ so to touch Zayn than anything else. “I’m fucking _horny_ as hell, someone is probably having sex right now.”

Liam groans, buries his face in his hand because yeah, he can feel it and it makes sense. It happens more often than not, whenever Louis and Harry go have fun with their respective partners, or whenever one of the others decides to sleep around. If you’re awake, chances are that you’re going to feel the need and the pleasure, and it happens that sex is one of those things literally none of them can stay away from, control themselves to the point of setting a limit between where they are and where they are travelling to. Especially when they find themselves in fragile states like Zayn and Liam are at the moment.

His mind goes and he blinks his eyes open to see Eleanor underneath him. _No_ , Liam forces himself to go back to Zayn because he’s been in that position before and he doesn’t feel like going through this, only to have Louis yelling at him later on for not being able to respect his privacy. Liam can’t help that he struggles the most, but he gives it his everything and when his eyes flutter open again, he’s back in London, Zayn still sitting with him in bed. The raven haired man is pressing the heel of his palm against his too visible erection – if it’s to will it down or to give himself a bit of a relief, Liam doesn’t know, forces his eyes to look away from it.

“ _Louis_ ,” the two of them let out at the same time, followed by a chuckle that quickly develops into a full body laugh. Liam falls back against his bed, letting his head rest on his pillow as he stares at the ceiling, focuses on Zayn’s laugh in order to not drift away to Belgium once more. Besides, he doesn’t want anyone to interrupt him and Zayn, to intrude into this moment that is meant to be for only the two of them. He values these too much to want to share them with anyone else.

Focused enough to notice when Zayn’s laugh dies, Liam goes to sit up and ask him how he’s feeling. Before he can, though, hands push him down, a body crawling on top of his and straddling his hips. Liam’s too stunned to move or to react in any way, so he lets his eyes wander down Zayn’s body. His hair is falling over his face and the tips tickle as they drag over his skin, Zayn leaving kisses up his torso and his chest, and then his neck. He nibbles over where Liam knows his birthmark is located, does that coupled with a small roll of his hips that gets Liam’s heart to almost beat out of his chest. _This_ is not something the two of them do – they’ve never gotten intimate with each other, at least not willingly -, but there’s a feeling of comfort that keeps Liam for acting on the instinct of questioning the other man. 

“I know what you were thinking of doing to me earlier,” Zayn whispers and Liam can feel his cheeks burn, knows the blush spreads down his chest because he’s embarrassed, even if the person of his fantasies is currently on top of him, seemingly willing to kiss every available part of Liam’s body. “I would’ve let you in a heartbeat, babe.”

Liam forces himself out of this state, lets go from where he’s clutching onto the bed sheets to rest his hands on Zayn’s hips. It’s his turn to thrust up and he’s filled with satisfaction when a moan slips from Zayn’s lips, even if it’s cut short when the other man buries his face on Liam’s neck, abashed out of a sudden. They start moving in a constant rhythm, Liam thrusting up and Zayn down, their erections brushing against each other through the material of Liam’s boxers and Zayn’s joggers. Zayn’s glasses are digging against his skin, but he can’t bring himself to care, not when he has the other man on top of him like this. 

“I want to do so much more than just that, Zee,” Liam decides to tell him, satisfied when he notices the way Zayn moans. “Want to spread you out on my bed, eat you out until you’re crying my name.” The image of a wrecked out Zayn on Liam’s sheets is going to haunt Liam for the rest of his life, he knows, but he has to put it out there, wants Zayn to imagine the same things Liam does, wants to know if the other man would be up for doing them eventually. “Want to fuck you, babe, _so_ much. Get inside of you, see how well you take my cock. Bet you’d look gorgeous riding me, wouldn’t you?” 

Zayn whines, drawing back to look at Liam in the eye and the blissed out look on his face is something Liam is never, _ever_ going to be able to forget. 

“My hair,” Zayn whispers, lips brushing against Liam’s as he talks. Their movements speed up and Liam doesn’t need any more indication to bring his right hand up to Zayn’s hair and grabbing a fistful, tugging on it until Zayn is crying out, his hips faltering as he’s coming inside his joggers. 

A hand shoves inside Liam’s boxers and Zayn pulls on his dick once, twice, until Liam too is coming, moaning Zayn’s name against the other’s lips, eyes falling shut. His body sags and Zayn takes his head away, but he doesn’t seem like he has any intention of moving. He’s a constant weight on top of Liam, warm and comfortable, and Liam doesn’t ever want him to leave. 

The surface underneath him shifts and the two of them are back in Karachi, lying down on Zayn’s floor. It’s a few minutes until Zayn is a drawing back again, but he doesn’t go far, arms resting on Liam’s chest to keep him upright – not that Liam would let him, with the way his arm is wrapped around Zayn’s waist, his hand still tangled in Zayn’s hair. He’s smiling down at Liam, eyes slightly dazed behind his glasses, and Liam more than anything wishes he could wake up to this sight every day. 

He notices that the feeling that had crawled through their bodies is gone, not only because they’ve tipped over the edge – the stickiness of Liam’s boxers a persistent reminder of that – but also because whatever Louis was doing with Eleanor is over as well. The horniness that had gotten the two of them into this position is long gone, and it leaves Liam wondering.

“Did you only do this because Louis having sex made us horny?” He questions, locking his gaze with Zayn’s and not allowing the other man to look away. Liam needs to know the truth, he can’t be played around like this, especially not by Zayn. “Because I meant everything I said. And no offense, but if you were only looking for a way to get off that wasn’t jerking off then-

Zayn cuts his speech short by pressing his lips against Liam’s – or trying to, since their noses bump and Zayn’s glasses slip from his nose and hit Liam on the face. The two of them groan out of pain, Zayn brings his free hand to grab his glasses and put them aside, Liam rubs his nose with the one that had been previously in Zayn’s hair. Zayn starts laughing then and it’s intoxicating. Soon enough, Liam joins, unable of remaining pissed or annoyed at the other man for too long. When they calm down again, they are filled by a silence that Zayn is quick to break.

“I was hoping for it to go smoother than that,” Zayn shakes his head, his jet-black hair like a curtain around Liam’s face. Zayn’s nose is scrunched up and Liam is taken by a sudden urge to lean forward and kiss the tip of it and that’s exactly what he does, prompting giggles to slip from Zayn’s lips. “But clearly life isn’t a movie.” Zayn’s hand – the clean one, Liam is hoping for, though he doesn’t know if he cares at the moment – cups Liam’s cheek. “You’re so silly to think I wouldn’t want the exact same things as you do, if not more.”

Liam blushes and knows Zayn feels it against his palm – even with their roles changed, Liam doesn’t mind. Not with the other this close to him. 

“Can I try again?” Zayn asks and Liam hums in response, doesn’t want to risk nodding and their foreheads hitting, getting them to postpone their overdue kiss once more. 

Zayn wastes no time leaning down and pressing his lips against Liam’s. It’s chaste and dry at first, and he pulls back so he can lick over his lips before he’s surging forward, licking into Liam’s mouth. Liam reacts a beat too late, kissing Zayn back and moving his hand to Zayn’s hair once more. They take it slow, none of them wanting to rush a movement they’ve both been looking forward to for so long. It makes Liam yearn to kiss Zayn properly, to take the first plane he can to Pakistan and show up at Zayn’s doorstep, maybe at his restaurant, drag Zayn towards a secluded corner and kiss him with far more hunger than he can muster in this moment. That thought gets Liam to hold back a bit, if only because he wants their first, _proper_ kiss to be one Zayn won’t ever be able to forget, rather than giving everything into a mental connection kiss. 

If they could, Liam knows they’d spend the rest of the morning exactly where they are, but Zayn drops one last kiss to his lips far too soon, before sitting up and spreading his hands on Liam’s chest. The other is giving him a look that translates everything Liam is feeling at the moment – need, warmth, comfort and that _L_ word that neither of them are willing to let out into the open anytime soon. There’s a half grin on Zayn’s lips, his head tilted slightly as he watches Liam.

“I need a shower and someone from my family could walk in anytime soon,” Zayn explains, letting out a heavy sigh and Liam notes he dreads that happening as much as Liam does. “And you could use a couple more hours of sleep.”

Liam nods, but puts his hand on the back of Zayn’s neck, dragging him down so their lips can brush once more. He smiles, tongue darting out and licking over Zayn’s bottom lip, before his teeth sink down on it. Only then does Liam let Zayn go, but not without winking at him. He knows he looks ridiculous, not knowing how to wink with only one eye and the laugh Zayn lets out is exactly what Liam is looking for.

“I will talk to you when I’m up,” Liam promises and Zayn nods.

“Alright,” the other man stands up, cringes probably due to his sticky boxers, but there’s that smile Louis’ coined as _Liam’s_ smile on Zayn’s lips, and that’s everything that matters. “Dream of me, sunshine.”

When Liam rolls over and buries his face against his pillow, a smile that stretches over his face and fights against disappearing at all cost, he knows that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! I hope you liked it and if you did, kudos/comments make me veeeery happy! I'm thinking of writing more, so we shall see :) 
> 
> Holla @ me on my [tumblr](http://perieedwards.tumblr.com/).


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